


Getting It Together

by SelenaEstella



Category: Smallville
Genre: Domestic, Fluff, Lex over-complicates things, M/M, Marriage Proposal, but it's fine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 06:07:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7302625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelenaEstella/pseuds/SelenaEstella
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Lex firmly believes that nothing good can ever come of Clark taking his surname. Clark disagrees."</p><p>A proposal fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Getting It Together

**Author's Note:**

> Found this floating around in my documents! It's from around when I first started watching Smallville, which made editing it weird because it feels like my writing has changed even though this wasn't written all that long ago. I don't like 'wasting words' so here it is! Hopefully posting this will get me back to writing others things, haha.
> 
> Contains a passing reference to sex but nothing graphic.

Lex has been meaning to ask Clark to marry him for a very long time. They've been together for a good few years now, Clark having moved in after he'd finished college, and Lex honestly cannot see anything changing. Well, maybe _some_ things could change, but nothing major, nothing that matters. They might move. Maybe Clark will change jobs. Perhaps LexCorp will go bankrupt but that is _extremely_ unlikely, especially since Lex stopped bending the law and ducked the remaining lawsuits. The truth is that finally, Lex feels certain that he will always love Clark; that he trusts himself to make this commitment. They can get married without the looming threat of separation.

So Lex gets the rings made, forged from scraps left over from the very Porsche Lex hit Clark with, that fateful day, one he’d never expected to look back on with joy. He hopes Clark will appreciate the symbolism; if not, there are a thousand other things Lex can have melted down and reshaped. Clark’s ring is set with emeralds, for his eyes, and Lex’s carries pale sapphires. Or maybe Clark will have the blue and Lex will have the green, since they could still use some resizing. It doesn’t matter. _Symbolism_.

Lex already has plans for the actual wedding rings, too: platinum, of course, and simple wedding bands, but with something meaningful inscribed. Lex likes ‘the stuff of legend’, but he’s also considering ‘I trust you’. He isn’t sure; he’ll have to consult Clark.

Which will be a bit of a problem, since Clark still doesn’t know that they’re going to get married. In fact he doesn’t even know that they’re engaged. Almost. The opportunity to propose keeps on coming up, but Lex keeps on... not. It doesn't have to be some grand public affair, with music and cameras and fireworks. In fact Lex knows that Clark wouldn't like that. He doesn't even have to get down on one knee--simply taking Clark's hand in their favourite restaurant would suffice. Lex has taken to carrying the rings around with him. They've still barely seen the light of day.

Lex lies awake one night, warm and relaxed from sex, watching Clark through sleepy eyes. The truth is, Lex realises, in that absent sort of way only achievable through half-sleep, that he's...  paranoid, in a way, except 'paranoia' implies irrationality. Clark has talked about Earth-2, mentioned briefly the... _thing_ that looks like Clark, and...

It doesn't make much sense. Or rather it wouldn't, if their lives weren't as they are. His rather turbulent history with the women he has married only adds to the theory--the fact--that the Luthor name is poison.

Which is why, when Clark kisses him one morning after breakfast, still tasting strongly of bacon and coffee, and suggests more than asks that they get married, Lex finds himself refusing.

He points out that a marriage would be harder to keep secret than the arrangement they have now. He adds that Clark's integrity as a journalist would be questioned if he married Lex Luthor. He argues that they should wait a little while for things to get settled, since Kansas had only just been forced to give them a marriage licence if they ask. Lex brings up just about everything apart from his actual concern.

Clark states that he's ready to come out of the closet. He says that Perry White knows he's a good, honest journalist and that's what really matters. He responds that Congress' decision to declare nationwide marriage equality is the exact reason _why_ they should do it sooner rather than later.

They argue. Clark gets upset. Lex gets frustrated. He wastes a lot of valuable time trying to convince Clark that his _feelings_ aren't the issue here, to which Clark snaps that they must be because look how long it took for Lex to marry everybody _else_ he spent more than a day with.

It's a low blow. Lex responds with one of his own. He asks if the real issue here is the amount of time Superman spends with Lois Lane.

Clark storms out at that, barely remembering to grab his things. Lex slumps down at the table, idly stirring his coffee, prepared to wait it out. He can still taste Clark on his tongue.

The day drags by in a way that it hasn’t for a while now. During his excuse of a lunch break--which usually means a visit from Clark but today means a neglected croissant on his desk while he works--Lex contemplates phoning the Kent farm, since that’s always where Clark goes when he takes off. But Lex is still peeved enough that he’d make some derisive comment about ‘running home to mommy’, and he’s sorry enough to not actually want to do it. Instead he tries to work and does a pretty shit job of it. It’s painfully obvious today what’s happened, and he’s getting sympathetic looks from the staff. Which is... disconcerting.

The phone rings mid afternoon. Lex isn’t sure if he’s pissed off or relieved.

“I’m sorry,” Clark blurts. Lex decides he’s relieved, and tries to stick to it. Clark keeps talking. “I guess I sorta sprung that on you, and I really didn’t mean what I said about, um, the women.”

“It’s fine, Clark.” Lex leans back in his chair and rubs idly at his forehead. “And I know you’d never do anything with Lois.” Now that that’s out of the way, they can get onto the main issue.

“It’s just that, sorta, I’ve been thinking about this for a while,” Clark confesses. Lex goes still. “I guess I sprung it on you, and made it sound too… casual. But it really would mean a lot to me. I, uh. I already have the rings.”

“Oh.” Lex’s hand drops to his pocket, where the little boxes, leather-wrapped carbon fibre and lined with lead, press against his thigh. Well, then.

“Lex?” He sounds so painfully worried.

“Listen, Clark, I… I have a lot to say, and we should talk face to face rather than over the phone.” He licks his lips. It never really gets easier, he’s found, but he has a better idea than the first time Clark went running back to the farm. That had been… messy. “I _would_ like to marry you, Clark.” It’s out at last. Or half of it, at least.

“Really?” Oh, God, the _hope_.

“Yes, Clark,” he soothes, “it’s just… Well.”

“Complicated?” He can hear the smile, wry though it may be, and it makes things worlds better.

“Yeah.” Lex checks his watch; almost time for his four o’clock, which he loathes beyond all comprehension but at the same time, it’s easier to deal with now that he’s made up with Clark. “I have to go, but we’ll talk this evening. We could go to that Italian place that you like?”

“No, I think I’d rather eat in.” Of course. They have to _talk_ , although Lex isn’t exactly looking forward to it. “I might be able to persuade mom to cook something though.”

Lex finds himself smiling. “Martha Kent home cooking. Better than any restaurant in Metropolis.” It’s not even an exaggeration.

Clark laughs lightly. “See you tonight. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Lex sets the phone down, still smiling. The day goes much better after that.

-

Lex arrives home with a... _slight_ feeling of trepidation. He can face rival business titans with ease, even sneer in the faces of Metropolis' most despicable of criminals, but God, talking to Clark about _things_... It was like this when he moved in, too, when after years they’d reached a stage that had taken no more than a few short weeks in Lex's previous relationships. This is in the same vein--another step forward with Clark, another step forward that he's never got right before.

Clark hugs Lex tightly as soon as he's in range. He's blaming himself again. Lex leads him into the living room and sets the ring boxes on the coffee table.

Clark's mouth forms an 'o'. Then he frowns, thoroughly confused. Lex gestures for him to sit down, staring at the rings, and mulling over his speech in his head. Clark's hand is on his thigh; it's distracting, but nice.

"I want to marry you," Lex begins, getting the facts sorted first. "But I'm not certain that it would be for the best." Clark's hand squeezes slightly.

"Because of... what we talked about this morning?"

"No," Lex confesses tiredly. "Those were... well-intentioned excuses." He stops. Clark digs a couple of boxes out of his pocket, warm dark blue leather and curved edges, soft and smooth. The sharp corners and crisp leather of the ones Lex had specially made strike him as stiff and impersonal; the sort of thing he got for Desiree and Helen and Lana and... He shouldn't have got them for Clark.

Very slowly, Lex explains, dragging the words out like barbed wire through his throat. His concerns sound… _bizarre_ in the light of day, but they haunt him still, because after everything he's seen in life, who's to say what's real and what isn't?

Lex falls silent. Clark drapes himself over his shoulders like a blanket, all sun-charged warmth and classic Kent kindness.

"I thought all that was out of character for you," he mumbles in Lex's scalp. "I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"Don't be. I deserved it."

"'M still sorry though.” A gentle kiss. “And I know you're sorry too, even though you're not saying anything."

Lex stares at his hands, the the boxes sat neatly on the table. He has to swallow before he speaks. "I mess things up most when I'm trying to do things right, don't I?"

Clark gives him a gentle shake. "Hey, only sometimes. It's because you always overthink things.” A trail of kisses now, over Lex’s scalp. “Give that big brain of yours a rest, Lex."

Relaxing slowly into the curve of Clark’s arms, Lex breathes slowly and managers smirk. "What,” he says, and his voice barely shakes, “and let you do the thinking for both of us?"

"I’m not going to respond to that,” says Clark, laughing gently, before he slots his chin over Lex’s head and just… holds on for a little while. Lex closes his eyes. "So…” Lex can sense Clark biting his lip. “Lex, if it's really an issue for you, we could hyphenate our names. Or not change them at all. Married couples do do that sometimes. Or…” Clark pulls back as little as he can, just far enough to cup Lex’s cheek. “Or you could become a Kent."

Lex can’t hold the earnest gaze for very long. He takes Clark’s hand and looks at the rings again. "I... could..."

"It's called Lexcorp, not Luthorcorp," Clark points out, a tad smug.

Could he really give it up? Everything he's worked for, everything he's earned, has been attached to that one name as firmly as his desire to get away from it. The legacy, though composed of lies, has been hammered into Lex since birth. It's such a large part of him, for good or for bad.

Lex swallows, conjuring up a smirk.

"What, and rob you of your double L fetish?" he snarks. Clark socks him on the arm.

"Oh my god. You said you wouldn't bring that up!" but he's smiling. They both are, although Lex's feels a little strained.

After a moment Clark looks down, chewing his lip, and slowly reaches for one of his ring boxes. Lex bites back his words and waits as Clark’s strong but incredibly gentle fingers open the box and take out a simple diamond engagement ring. Nothing big or fancy, no elegant patterns or extra gems, but Lex can tell it’s old and loved. There are stories in the metal’s tiny scratches.

Taking Lex’s hand in his own, Clark slides the ring up Lex’s finger. It fits perfectly, and gleams under the light. Lex swallows, blinking rapidly for a moment while his eyes clear. It’s… it’s so little but it means so _much_ . He’s Clark’s and they’re together and they… they really could be, couldn’t they? _Forever_.

“Lex?” Clark breathes, one hand in his, the other on his cheek, so close when Lex raises his head, eyes brimming with warmth and love…

The kiss is sweet and soft. It reminds Lex of their first, except when he pulls back Clark meets his eyes this time instead of blushing at his toes. Desperate not to break eye contact, to not lose that affection, Lex fumbles for his own rings and picks up the first box he finds. Taking Clark’s left hand in his, Lex slips the ring on without looking at it.

It doesn’t matter.

Clark’s eyes are filled with happy tears. The anxiety that has been plaguing Lex for weeks finally dissipates, and while Lex would never describe himself as ‘joyous’ or ‘elated’...

Oh, dammit, he just got engaged--he’s allowed to feel something more than ‘satisfied’ or ‘mildly pleased’. Especially with Clark planting sloppy kisses all over his face and head and neck, arms wrapped tight around him.

It’s perfect.


End file.
